Tag: marijuana

The OPP would like to ask the public to be on the lookout for suspicious activity associated with outdoor marijuana harvesting.

Marihuana harvesting season is approaching and the OPP would like the assistance of the public in reporting suspicious activity. Usually outdoor marihuana is kept outdoors as long as possible to maximize the yield. The harvesting usually begins after the first frost of the year as most plants will not typically survive a second frost.

If you are out hiking in remote areas watch for the following telltale signs of outdoor marihuana grow operations:

Hand tools – shovels/rakes. etc.

Power tools – weed eaters/chainsaws. etc.

Watering supplies – hose/pumps/generators. etc.

Soil/peat moss

Fertilizer/grow chemicals

Plastic Barrels

Camouflage netting

GPS and radios

Camp supplies – sleeping bag/stove/lantern/tent. etc.

The OPP is requesting the assistance of the public in reporting potential grow sites. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Orillia OPP at 705-326-3536 or Call Crime Stoppers at 1-800- 222-TIPS. (1-800-222-8477) or submit your information online at www.crimestopperssdm.com if you have any information on this crime or others. Crime Stoppers does not subscribe to call display, you will remain anonymous. Being anonymous, you will not testify in court and your information may lead to a cash reward of up to $2,000.00.

On Sunday August 7th, Huntsville Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) received information about marihuana plants being grown on property off Highway #35 in the Township of Lake of Bays.

As a result of this information and a following investigation members of the OPP seized a large number of marihuana plants and arrested one male party.

Matthew Hughes, age 24, has been charged with Section 7(1) of the controlled Drugs and substance act, unlawfully producing a substance in schedule ll and section 5(2) of the Controlled Drugs and Substance Act, Possession for the purpose of trafficking schedule ll substance.

The accused is to appear in the Ontario Court of Justice in Huntsville on October 5, 2016 to answer to the charges.

One of the region’s newest medical marijuana dispensaries is seeing its customer base grow just as Canada’s pot laws seem set to become less restrictive.

Cal White, a franchisee owner with Legacy 420, opened his shop in the Wahta First Nation on the Friday of the past May 24 weekend, right across from his other business The Wahta Station on Muskoka Road 38.

The franchise has its head office in the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory and White’s dispensary is the first Legacy 420 outside that First Nation.

He decided to get into the business to provide a one-stop local access for medical pot after hearing about problems people faced having to go on websites to place their orders and then waiting for Canada Post to deliver.

“There were some problems with that and certainly with the looming postal strike there’s even more concern about it,” he tells Muskoka News Watch.

Dispensaries in wait and see mode

White says his dispensary is open to all who qualify and that his customers already number in the hundreds.

“Some are local, some are obviously cottagers up here,” he says. “It’s pretty much the same demographic that comes and buys the smokes. We’re talking Gravenhurst, Bracebridge, Midland, Barrie, Orillia – all down in those areas. It’s a pretty wide circumference really.”

For the most part it’s been more of a mature age group who’ve been showing up, he adds.

“The average customer is probably between 50 and 60 years old,” says White.

Although he says there are no restrictions as to the type of pot strains he can sell at the dispensary, he currently sells four but says they are looking to provide customers more variety in the future.

White notes the general public mood about medical marijuana dispensaries is that it’s in a kind of wait-and-see mode. He’s not had any trouble with the law or opponents of these types of new ventures.

“So far we’ve not been bothered and we don’t really expect to because we’re on First Nations (land),” he says. “I know one of the biggest fears is that (some people) think we’re going to start selling to kids or just anybody off the street and that’s really not true. It’s the same as the smoke shops. I don’t know any responsible smoke shops that would even consider selling to kids. We card people all the time, both at the smoke shop and the marijuana (dispensary). We’ll card anyone that looks under 25.”

To buy marijuana from the dispensary, White says people need to have their medical marijuana card issued by Health Canada, a copy of a prescription they have or one of their pill bottles to show they have an actual condition that’s treatable by cannabis.

“I think people are finally coming to realize it’s not the ‘demon weed’ like we were told by Big Pharma as far back as the 30’s,” says White. “It’s just another medicinal plant and the First Nations have been using plants as medicine for all of eternity, so this is really nothing new to us.”

Legacy 420 is open between 11am and 7pm Sunday to Thursday and 11am and 9pm Fridays and Saturdays. The dispensary is located at 2190-A Muskoka Road 38 right across from the Wahta Station.

A 29 year old St. Catherines man is facing charges after 44 pounds of pot was found in the vehicle he was driving on Highway 400.

On Tuesday May 17th a Barrie OPP officer conducted a vehicle stop for a traffic infraction on Highway 400 near Ski Trails Rd. in Springwater Township. The officer determined that marijuana was present in the vehicle and subsequently seized 44 pounds of marijuana.

The driver Steven Gionet of St Catharines was charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking – over 3kg.

A 31-year-old Bracebridge man has been handed a 45-day sentence for driving while his licence was under suspension.

Bracebridge court has heard that on July 11th, 2015, the man was pulled over after turning on to Woodridge Street in Bracebridge after a patrolling OPP officer noticed he was driving a grey Ford pickup while his licence was under suspension for unpaid fines.

A search of the vehicle later turned up 12.26 grams of marijuana which was in a clear plastic baggy in a blue tote bag at the back of the truck. Court heard that pot was also found in a used cigarette container.

Judge JD Evans found the man guilty of driving while under suspension and possession of pot.

Defence lawyer Robin Bellows said her client had faced previous drug charges, but that he had completed a 4 and a half year methadone program and been sober for three years.

“It’s unfortunate that we see him before the court (now) for a more minor drug,” she said, adding that there were tryable issues which had not been pursued in the case in relation to who’s pot it actually was.

The man owns a local roofing and framing business for residential properties, has two employees & rarely drove either of the business’s two work vehicles, explained Bellows.

He showed remorse in court for what had happened.

“I’ve done a lot of growing up over the past 4-5 years,” he told Judge Evans. “There’s no excuse for what I’ve done – I knew I shouldn’t be driving.”

Evans ruled he must pay a $500 fine for the pot possession, plus a $150 victim find surcharge.

He received the jail time for the drive while under suspension, which he is to serve intermittently on weekends to allow him to keep working.

A further six month driving suspension looms for the man and a probation term is also in effect which stipulates no drinking or non prescribed drug taking during the sentence.